Paint the sky with stars
by Satoshi3
Summary: I suck at summaries-A story about the lab ray and the effects it has on one family of Neopets-Read and review...
1. Prolauge

Disclaimer-I don't own Neopets, Don't sue...Ypu know the rest I'm sure...

A/N-My Neopets account is Majin_Koenma and this is a story about my real Neopets so you can go look them up if you want. Also PLEASE review (I need to know if I should continue with this story) but don't flame. Constructive criticsm is welcome, flames are not. ell thats enough from me. On with the story...

I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Sonazu and I'm a red Ixi. All this happenes when I was less then a week old, though it feeles like yesterday. I still don't like to think back on it but they say if you forget history it will only end up repeating itself so I have never let myself forget no matter how painfull the memories may be.

As I've already said, this all started when I was less then a week old. It was the 11th day of Awakening, Year Five. The time was nearly eight in the evening. My owner, Majin_Koenma, was out buying gerocries and my three brothers were all off doing their own thing. As for me, I was sitting alone in my room staring out the window. Snow was lightly falling and the moon was full. I sighed, thinking about what was going to happen the next morning. As usual, Majin was going to drag me to the lab ray, hoping I would turn from red to ghost. Majin wanted a ghost pet, but she couldn't afford the paint brush. Thats why she created me, as a lab rat. She planned to zap me daily untill I either turned ghost or was turned into a species that didn't come in ghost. If that happnes I would probably be abandon. Mabye thats why I was so depressed most of the time. Of course, if you thought that you didnt have a permanent home and your'e owner was only using you for their own purposes with no regard for your'e feelings you would be depressed too.

Majin knew that I didn't want to be zapped with the lab ray but she didn't care. She wanted a ghost pet but refused to save for the ghost paint brush. She claimed it would take too long to save up all the Neopoints and the temptation to spend all that money on something else would be too great. So despite my constant protests I was forced to make the daily visits to the lab ray. Few humans realise that being zapped by the lab ray is extreamly painful, but it is. The ray literaly re-arranges a Neopets genitic structure, and of course that kind of thing is going to hurt. It's a hidious invention, and I think it should be destroyed. But as a week old Neopet with an overberaing owner there was nothing I could do about it.

I heard the front door opening and my owner enter the house. My older brother Yakkul_chan went to greet her and help carry the gerocries in. Yakkul was a Fire Lupe and Majin's first ever Neopet. He was also her favorite, though she would never admit it. He was the only pet that Majin trained to fight in the battledome and he was the only pet allowed to read books. I listened to the two of them talk for a minute though I couldn't exactly make out the words, then I turned my attention to the window again. This is how I spent most of my nights, just staring out the window...

"Sonazu! It's past your'e bed time! Turn out the light and get to sleep. you hear me?" Majin was right outside my door, and had noticed the light from my lamp shining through the little crack. "O.K., Ma'am. Good night." I turned out the light and waited for her response.

"Be sure to get to sleep now. We're going to the lab ray an hour early tomorrow so your'e brother won't be late for his Battledome match."

"Yes, Ma'am." Sighing I climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over my head. I could hear my three brothers, who were allowed to stay up as late as they wanted, in the living room watching reruns of Better Then You. They got to watch television and I got to lay in bed in my dark room contemplating how unfair life is. I wasn't a part of the family, I was the lab rat. Just the lab rat. I was disposible. If the ray turned me into a color or species Majin didn't like I would probably be abandon in the pound. Majin wouldn't dream of abandoning Yakkul, or any of my brothers for that matter. I didn't have a family, and a family is what any young Neopet despratly wants. But I would probably never have one as long as Majin_Koenma was my owner. Even if the lab ray did turn me ghost I didn't want my owner to love me just beacuse I was painted a ceartain color, I wanted her to love me for me, the way she did with my three brothers. Mabye it would be best if I were abandon. Mabye then I would be adopted by an owner who would truely love and accept me. Mabye I would finaly have a true family. But then mabye not. Mabye I would end up being adopted by someone like Majin_Koenma. Or mabye I would just sit in the pound for days on end and not be adopted at all. That was a scary thought beacuse any Neopet will tell you that living with an owner like Majin_Koenma is better then spending your'e life in a cramped cage with other abandon and unappreciated pets. At least here I had a real Neohome, a bed to sleep in and three square meals a day. Living here was better then a future of total unceartantity, at least for now. So I closed my eyes and lay in my bed for God knows how long untill I finally fell asleep.

I was awakened at six oclock the next morning and rudhed into the kitchen. My three brothers were already awake and at the kitchen table, eating a scrambled negg breakfast. I sat down and Majin shoved a glass ov milk and an apple in front of me. "Here eat." she instructed me. We've got to get going. Your'e brother's match starts in an hour and a half. He'll be disqualified if he's late."

"Yes, Ma'am." I took a bite out of the apple, which wasn't exactly what you would call fresh, and watched as my brothers wolfed their neggs down. Toraku_chan, a starry Gelert was carrying a conversation on with Yakkul. "So Yakkul, after the fight you want to go to the Poogle Raceing track with me? I hear Poogle number five just got over his case of the sneezles and is the favorite to win."

Why not. If I get hurt we can always pay the Healing Springs a quick visit. Besids I haven't been to Faerie Land in ages. You want to come Tennotsukai?" Tennotsukai_chan (we called him Tenno for short) was a Christmas Zafara. "Sure. Hey Majin, can I go with please? I promise not to get lost like the last time!" Tennotsukai was the youngest in the family next to me and more then a bit immature.

"Well, allright, but only if you promise to stay close to your'e brothers and not wander off."

I promise Majin!" I stared down at my apple. It was useless asking if I could go with, I already knew the answer was no. I never got to do much of anything with my brothers and to be completly honest, I didn't really want to. Like I said, they wern't really my family so why should I do famiily things with them? I was my own family so-to-speak. Though I shared a Neohome with four other living being I was more alone then you could possibly imagine.

Majin pushed me to eat my meager breakfast as fast as I could then it was off to the ray for my daily torture. The ugly yellow Scorchio in the dirty lab coat strapped me to a huge table, making the straps were to tight for me to move. I could feel them diging into my skin, and I could feel blood coming from the subsequent woulnds. The giant tirture divice, the lab ray itself, was aimed directly between my eyes, the preferred zapping sopt. No womder many long term lap bets often go blind. A bluins white light began to emerge from the tip of the ray as it charged power, then came the blindingwhite light as the ray was fired. Less then a second later came the horrible pain as the beam from the ray struck me between the eyes. The light slowly began to fade and the pain from the initial blast subsided, then the real pain began. My head started to hurt just a bit, then my entire body began to ache. Then the ache turned gradualy in to a horrible, blaindig pain as the ray blast took effect. The pain was unberrible and I was screaming at the top of my lungs as the cells of my body changed, and all this was compounded by my fear of what the ray was doing to me. Then less then five minutes later it was over. The terrible pain finally began to lessen, and I saw that I was still a red Ixi. The ray had just boosted my defence points by three. After the pain had gone and I had had time to relax the Scorchio unstrapped me and Majin lifter me from the table and placed me on the ground. "Your'e still not a Ghost Ixi" Majin said somewhat angerly as if it was somehow my fault that the ray hadn't had the desired effect that day.

"I know, Ma'am." I said simply. "Can we please go home now?"

"Of course. Your'e brother can't be late for his match." We walked through Neopia Central and arrived in time for Yakkul to make his match. The fiur of them headed off to the Battledome right away whail I stayed behind. This was one of the few times I ever had the house to myself, and I was going to enjoy it. I turned on the living room T.V. and sterached out on the couch. It was six thirth in the morning and other then the News there really wasn't much on so I revirted to my old past time, staring out the window. The living room window faced west and I could barely see the great mountain range that marked the end of the Haunted Woods. Beyond thoes mountains was the so-called "dark hemisphere", the hemesphere of Planet Neopia that no human had yet explored. I had always wondered what was beyond thoes mountains and why humans had not yet explored beyond them. I often daydreamed that I was free from Majin_Koenma and off exploring thoes mountains myself, and once I got over the mountains I would discover a whole new Neopian world, one where I would finalli find a real family. But that was nothing more then wishfull thinking, and as Majin would say I needed to "come back to reality".

I stared out at the still rising sun and watched as the last of the stars slowly faded from view for another day. I watched and dreamed of going off and finding a family where I would be appreciated, where I would be free of Majin_Koenma and my brothers and that God awful lab ray. But dreams are just that, dreams, and I was stuck in cruel, uncaring reality.


	2. Abandonment and betrayal

Disclaimer-See chapter 1 

Hello. This is Yakkul_chan. I regret to inform you that Sonazu, my little brother, is gone, abandon to the pound, so I'll have to pick up the story fron here. Sonazu would have wanted me to tell you about what happend to Majin_koenma and her pets after he was abandon. Sonazu would also want the three od us to confront her about the treatment of her petsand tell her to treat all of her pets as equals. That we did, and well...you can see for you're self weather or not it was a god idea to do so.

Sonazu's daily trips to the lab ray continued unabated. The three of us felt sorry for him (I personally have never been subject to the ray but I hear it isn't a pleasent experience to say the least) and wished it would stop but there was nothing we could do to help him. I had been with Majin_Koenma long enough to know what kind of owner she was. Her home was a dictatorship, not a democracy and she was the dictator. If she gave one of her pets an order she expected the pet to obey the order without question no matter what. On the few occasions when I did confront her about how she was treating Sonazu she threatened to make me the family lab rat so I would always end up backing off and never challenging her further. I regret that I didn't have the courage to stand up for my little brither but if you knew Majin_Koenma you would see why I always gave up.

Anyway, the lab ray finally turned Sonazu into a female, and since Majin_Koenma didn't have the heart or the patience to wait untill it turned him male again he was abandon. Where he is now I can not tell you. What I can tell you is that immediantly after abandoning poor Sonazu Majin adopted a pet to take his place, a green Mynci named Totsudoshi. I guessed that he was destined to be the next lab experiment but I was wrong. Majin_Koenma baught a cloud Ixi morphing potion and used it on our new "brother". After spending over fifty thousand Neopoints on the potion there was no way that Totsudoshi was going to be the next lab rat. Instead Tennotsukai_chan, my Zafara brother, was to take Sonazu's place as the lab rat.

Now to grasp the full gravity of this you have to understand something about Tenno. He is still young and very immature. Whail I've lived long enough to know Majin_Koenma for the kind of owner she is, Tenno still lookes up to her as if she was his mother. Majin can do no wrong in poor naieve Tenno's eyes, and when she told him that he was going to visit the lab ray every day he automatically assumed that it was for the best. I don't even think that at that point he even knew what the lab ray is. He was in for the shock of his life and he was in o way prepared for it.

The night before his first trip to the ray. I took Tenno asside and tried to warn him. I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. We were sitting in the living room alone watching reruns of "Better then you." I reminded him of Sonazu's experience and warned him about how painfull the ray is.

"Listen Tenno, you can't let Majin take you to the lab ray tomorrow. I know you probably don't believe me but...

Tenno shook his head. "I believe you but I know Majin would never make me do anything that would hurt me. She loves me! She painted me christmas after all, didn't she?" Tenno gently flapped the angel wings protruding from his back.

"Tenno, you have to understand something about Majin_Koenma. She..."

,y sentance was cut off as I heared footsteps comming down the hall. When the livingroom door opeed Majin_Koenma was standing there, an angry look on her face. "There you are, Tennotsukai. I've been looking all over for you."

Oh, sorry Majin I...

I don't care. Just be quiet and get to bed. You're getting up early tomorrow."

Tenno was taken aback. Majin_Koenma had never spoken that abruptly to him before and it had shaken the little christmas Zafara. "But I always stay up to watch "Better then You!""

Now Majin was getting really angry. She hated being defyed and if looks could kill Tenno would have died right there on the spot; the look on Majin's face was one of pure anger. "Don't argue with me, Tennotsukai_chan. I told you to go to bed and I ment it, Damnit. Now go."

But Majin...

I SAID GO! I'm not going to tell you again!"

Poor Tenno just sat there in stunned silence, it was all he could do. The poor little Zafara was shaking out of fear and there were tears welling up in his eyes. He looked at me with pleading eyes, begging me to do something, anything, to make Majin_Koenma stop yelling. But there was nothing I could do. Finally Majin lunged foreward and grabbed Tenno by the ear. Zafara ears are very sensitive and I'll never forget his cay of pain as Majin dragged hi by the ear to his room. He kicked and screamed as he was dragged but it did no good. Five seconds later I heard the door to Tenno's room slam and the lock slide into place. That was it. I had to say something. I couldn't let this go on any longer. But then Majin came storming back into the room and before I could get a word in she was giving me orders. "You had better get to bed too. You have another fight tomorrow. And this time you had better damn well win, you understand me?"

At that moment all my courage left me. I mearly nodded and wordlessly went off to my room. Michidzure, my pet Snowbunny, greeted me as I enterd my room. Normally I would have greeted him back but this night I simply ignored him. I hated Majin for how she was treating my little brother and I hated myself for being such a damn coward. I turned off the light and crawled into bed, pulling the covers. However Lupes such as myself have excellent hearing and I could still hear poor Tenno in his own bed room, softly crying. I could hear him saying over and over as he sobbed, "Why did she have to pull my ear?" but I knew that wasn't the real reason he was crying. He was crying beacuse he now knew the place he was to occupy in Majin_Koenma's home. He was the lab rat and nothing more. He loved Majin with all his heart and she had betrayed him.So I lay there, trying to fall asleep and listening to my little brother's painfull cries.


End file.
